Although I wouldn’t call this set “great,” I’d say it’s pretty darned good. It’s not Earth shattering in terms of originality and does suffer a bit from the “it sounds the same” virus. That said, it’s got some great riff driven stoner rock. This is more along the lines of garage band, DIY stuff than anything else, but it works quite well.

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Track by Track Review

Golden Goddess I

Drums really drive this thing with an insistent percussion. The music has a heavy, stoner rock kind of vibe. This instrumental is part metal and part psychedelic rock.

Golden Goddess IIIn some ways this makes me think of Cream. Yet there is a real early Black Sabbath vibe, too. It part garage band, part psychedelic rocker and maybe even part Captain Beyond.

No Control

This has more of an old time rock and roll vibe. It’s almost like The Stones go psychedelic garage band.

Harsh MistressSlow and a bit stripped back, this isn’t a big change. Honestly, the formula is already starting to wear a bit thin.

Thee IntimidatorNow, this is more like it. This thing is energized. It’s like ZZ Top goes stoner rock. It’s one of the best cuts of the whole disc. Part of that is because of the change it represents, but this thing just rocks.

Black Magic IWith some powerhouse drumming, including a drum solo, this is very much an old school garage band type of sound. It’s part MC-5 and part Cream. It’s a killer instrumental. I have to say that, for my tastes, the drum solo is a bit too long. I should mention that I’m not a fan of drum solos, so your mileage may vary.

Black Magic IIThis has a bit of Elvis Presley built into it. Beyond that, it’s a smoking hot riff driven stoner rocker. It’s one of my favorites here. There is a weird echoey feedback laden section at the end that makes me think of "Deep Freeze"by Judas Priest.

Dragon Chaser IThis rocks out a bit like early Grand Funk meets Cream. Comparisons to Clutch and even Electric Wizard are not out of the question.

Dragon Chaser II

As this pounds out, it’s definitely heavy metal. It’s very much like early Sabbath in so many ways. Yet, there is a garage element at play. It shifts to more mainstream stoner rock from there. It gets back toward metallic territory later as the instrumental section powers forward.

The Chronicles of Dirty DickThis is definitely a stoner metal kind of cut. The usual suspects of Clutch and Electric Wizard are on display here. With some shifts and changes, this is a real powerhouse. It’s one of my favorites of the set. Around the three and a half minute mark it seems like it’s about to end. Instead, it slows down and powers out into a killer psychedelia meets metal jam. That takes on hints of progressive rock in some ways as it grows out from there. We’re eventually brought out into more stoner rock from there. That takes it to the close.